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Nirvana Sutra
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The Nirvana Sutra, or (; ; ).) is a major Mahayana sutra, which its English-translator, Kosho Yamamoto, has described as 'one of the three great masterpieces of Mahayana Buddhism'. It is one of several Buddhist texts having approximately the same title, another well-known text being (the Mahaparinibbana Sutta), part of the Pali Canon. However, both for historical reasons and for the sake of clarity, the former is generally referred to by its full Sanskrit title, (or simply "Nirvana Sutra") in cases where confusion may arise, the latter by its Pali title, Mahaparinibbana Sutta.
Although the Nirvana Sutra mentions some of the well-known episodes in the final months of the life of the Buddha, the sutra uses these narratives merely as a convenient springboard for the expression of standard Mahayana ideals.
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The Nirvana Sutra, or (; ; ).) is a major Mahayana sutra, which its English-translator, Kosho Yamamoto, has described as 'one of the three great masterpieces of Mahayana Buddhism'. It is one of several Buddhist texts having approximately the same title, another well-known text being (the Mahaparinibbana Sutta), part of the Pali Canon. However, both for historical reasons and for the sake of clarity, the former is generally referred to by its full Sanskrit title, (or simply "Nirvana Sutra") in cases where confusion may arise, the latter by its Pali title, Mahaparinibbana Sutta.
Although the Nirvana Sutra mentions some of the well-known episodes in the final months of the life of the Buddha, the sutra uses these narratives merely as a convenient springboard for the expression of standard Mahayana ideals. Both in style and in content, the Nirvana Sutra displays a disregard for historic particulars and a fascination with the supernatural and the ideals which characterize Mahayana writings in general. As a Mahayana sutra, it is of rather late date (after the second century AD), although Buddhist scholar and translator of the Tibetan version of the sutra, Stephen Hodge, speculates that it could well be earlier, from around 100CE to 220CE. For these reasons, in most standard studies of the Buddha's life, scholars used the Mahaparinibbana Sutta as the principal source of reference, and not the Nirvana Sutra.
Mahayana and the Nirvana Sutra
Sasaki (1999), in a review of Shimoda (1997), conveys a key premise of Shimoda's work, namely, that the origins of Mahayana Buddhism and the Nirvana Sutra are entwined. Like the majority of Mahayana sutras, the Nirvana Sutra evidently underwent a number of stages in its composition, which is of some importance for any discussion of the Tathagatagarbha and Buddha-nature (buddha-dhatu) doctrines. A leading scholar in this field is the Japanese scholar Masahiro Shimoda, who posits a short proto-Nirvana Sutra, which was he argues was probably not distinctively Mahayana, but quasi-Mahasanghika in origin and would date to 100 CE, if not even earlier. He suggests that an expanded version of this core text was then developed and would have comprised chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the Faxian and Tibetan versions, though it is believed that in their present state there is a degree of editorial addition in them from the later phases of development.
Versions
Hodge (2004) frames the versions and history of the Nirvana Sutra:
There are three extant versions of the Mahayana-mahaparinirvana-sutra, each translated from various Sanskrit editions: the shortest and earliest is the translation into Chinese by Faxian and Buddhabhadra in six juan (418CE), the next in terms of development is the Tibetan version (c790CE) by Jinamitra, Jnanagarbha, and Devacandra, and the extended version in 40 juan by Dharmakshema (422) which was also translated into Tibetan from the Chinese. There also exists a secondary Chinese version in 36 juan of Dharmakshema's translation, produced by polishing the style and adding new section headings and completed in 453CE. It is also known from Chinese catalogues of translations that at least two other Chinese translations were done, slightly earlier than Faxian, but these are no longer extant. Though a complete version of the entire text in Sanskrit has not yet been discovered, some fragments of original Sanskrit versions have been discovered in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Japan.
The text of the Nirvana Sutra in the original Sanskrit has survived only in a number of fragments, which were discovered in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Japan. It does exist in Chinese and Tibetan versions of varying lengths. Faxian, the monk who initially brought the text to China from India, prepared a brief translation containing six fascicles, but slightly later translation had forty fascicles. Still later, Huiguan, Huiyan, Xie Lingyun, and others during the Liu Song dynasty integrated and amended the translations of Faxian and into a single edition of thirty-six fascicles. That version is called the "southern text" of the Nirvana Sutra, while version is called the "northern text." There is also a Tibetan translation, compiled in about 790 by the Indian panditas Jinamitra, Jnanagarbha and the Tibetan scholar-monk Devacandra, which is comparable in length to Faxian's translation. Thus, there are four extant versions:
- The "six fascicle text", translated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty by Buddhabhadra and Faxian between 416 and 418, T 376.12.853-899.
- The "northern text", with 40 fascicles, translated in the Northern Liang kingdom by between 416 and 423, T 374.12.365c-603c.
- The "southern text" with 36 fascicles, complied in the Liu Song Dynasty by Huiguan and Huiyan, in approximately 453, T 375.12.605-852.
- The "Tibetan text", translated in 8th century Tibet by Jinamitra, Jnanagarbha and Devacandra.
It is also known from Chinese catalogues of translations that at least two other Chinese translations were done, slightly earlier than Faxian, but these are no longer extant.
Overview of the Sutra
The Mahaparinirvana Sutra is a long and highly composite Mahayana scripture. One scholar claims it refers to the Buddha using the term "Self" in order to win over non-Buddhist ascetics.
The scripture presents itself as providing the correct understanding of earlier Buddhist teachings, such as those on non-Self and Emptiness: "non-Self" in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra refers to the impermanent, mundane, skandha-constructed ego, whose seeming reality is called by the Buddha "a lie" (in contrast to the true supramundane Selfhood of the Buddha), while "Emptiness" (shunyata) is explicated as meaning empty of that which is compounded, painful, and impermanent (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op.cit., Vol. 2, pp. 30-31; Buddha-Self by Dr. Tony Page, Nirvana Publications, London, 2003, Vol. 2, p. 70). The Buddha, in the Fa-xian version of the text, points out that worldly beings who misapprehend the authentic Buddhist Doctrine "... have the notion that there is no Self, and are unable to know the True Self." (Buddha-Self, op.cit. Vol. 1, p. 53). This True Self, of course, is not the suffering-prone and hapless clinging ego - not the conditioned and transitory "self" which unawakened persons clutch at as their identity - but the Self-which-signifies-Buddha: all-knowing and all-pure Ultimate Reality, unconstrained by the limitations and illusions of samsara. This Self of the Buddha is the source of ever-enduring life. The Buddha is likened to a great sea, whose expanse and longevity cannot be measured: "All the great rivers of life of all people, of the gods, the earth and the sky drain into the Tathagata's sea of life. Hence, the length of life of the Tathagata is uncountable." (Mahayanism: A Critical Exposition of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra by Kosho Yamamoto, The Karinbunko, Tokyo, 1975, p. 61).
The Nirvana Sutra is an enormously important scripture, not least because of its influence on Zen Buddhism and in view of its traditional status as the final Mahayana pronouncements of the Buddha on the eve of his physical death. It is striking for its teachings on the eternal, unchanging, blissful, pure, inviolate and deathless "Self" (atman) of the Buddha in the interiority of Nirvana: "... if the non-eternal is made away with [in Nirvana], what there remains must be the Eternal; if there is no more any sorrow, what there remains must be Bliss; if there is no more any non-Self, what exists there must be the Self; if there is no longer anthing that is impure, what there is must be the Pure" (Kosho Yamamoto, Mahayanism: A Criticla Exposition of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, The Karinbunko, Tokyo, 1975, pp. 107-108). Here the sutra controverts the familiar Buddhist dictum that "all dharmas [phenomena] are non-Self", and in the Dharmakshema version the Buddha even declares that "in truth there is Self (Atman) in all dharmas". That Self is "indestructible like a diamond" (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op.cit., Vol. 3, p.6), and yet can assume all manner of forms, including those of the gods Shiva and Vishnu (Buddhist Thought, Professor Paul Williams, Routledge, London, 2000, p. 243). Any idea that the Buddha (who is the immortal Self – Mahayanism, op. cit., pp. 61-62) is impermanent is vigorously rejected by the Buddha in this sutra, and those who teach otherwise are severely criticised. He insists: "Those who cannot accept that the Tathagata is eternal [nitya] cause misery." (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 16). In contrast, meditating upon the eternality of the Buddha is said to bring happiness and protection from rebirth in evil realms. The eternal being of the Buddha should be likened - the sutra says - to indelible letters carved upon stone. Furthermore, protecting and promoting this teaching of the Buddha's eternity is said to bring innumerable and inconceivable blessings to its votaries (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op. cit., passim).
Much of the central focus of the Nirvana Sutra falls on the existence of the salvific Buddha-dhatu (Buddha-nature, Buddha element, or Buddha principle), also called the Tathagatagarbha ("Buddha-matrix" or "Buddha embryo"), in every sentient being (animals included - hence the Buddha's strong support for vegetarianism in this sutra), the full seeing of which ushers in Liberation from all suffering and effects final deliverance into the realm of Great Nirvana (maha-nirvana). This "True Self" or "Great Self" of the nirvanic realm is said to be sovereign, to be attained on the morning of Buddhahhood, and to pervade all places like space (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op.cit. Vol. 5, p.60). The Buddha-dhatu is always present, in all times and in all beings, but is obscured from worldly vision by the screening effect of tenacious negative mental afflictions (kleshas) within each being (the most notable of which are greed, hatred, delusion, and pride). Once these negative mental states have been eliminated, however, the Buddha-dhatu is said to shine forth unimpededly and the Buddha-sphere (Buddha-dhatu/ visaya) can then be consciously "entered into", and therewith deathless Nirvana attained (Mahayanism, op.cit., pp. 94-96).
The highest form of Nirvana — Mahaparinirvana — is also discussed in very positive, "cataphatic" terms in the Nirvana Sutra. Mahaparinirvana is characterized as being that which is "Eternal (nitya), Blissful (sukha), the Self (atman) and Pure (subha)" (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op.cit., passim). This state or sphere (visaya) of ultimate awareness and Knowing (jnana), however, is said to be accessible only to those who have become fully awakened Buddhas. Even 10th-level Bodhisattvas (i.e. the very highest level of Bodhisattva) are not able clearly to perceive the Buddha-dhatu, and they further fail to see with clarity that the immutable, unfabricated Dhatu dwells indestructibly within all beings (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op. cit., Vol. 8, p.67). The longer versions of the Nirvana Sutra additionally give expression to the new claim (not found in the shorter Chinese and Tibetan versions) that, because of the Buddha-dhatu (Buddha-principle/ Buddha-nature), absolutely all beings without exception, even icchantikas (the most incorrigible and spiritually base of beings), will eventually attain Liberation and become Buddhas (Mahayanism, op.cit., pp. 153-154).
Nature of the Buddha and Nirvana
Translator of the entire Nirvana Sutra into English, Kosho Yamamoto, writes in his monograph on the sutra on the nature of the Buddha and of Nirvana as presented in this sutra. He comments:
‘What is the Tathagata [Buddha]? … He is one who is eternal and unchanging. He is beyond the human notion of “is” or “is-not”. He is Thusness [tathata], which is both phenomenon and noumenon, put together. Here, the carnal notion of man is sublimated and explained from the macrocosmic standpoint of existence of all and all. And this Dharmakaya is at once Wisdom and Emancipation [moksha]. In this ontological enlargement of the concept of existence of the Buddha Body [buddhakaya], this sutra and, consequently, Mahayana, differs from the Buddha of Primitive Buddhism … And what is the Dharmakaya? It is a body founded on Dharma. And what is Dharma? It is dharmata[Thusness – the true nature of all things], which is eternal and which changes not …Thus, there comes about the equation of: Buddha Body = Dharmakaya = eternal body = eternal Buddha = Eternity. … What is Nirvana? [Dwelling upon the nature of Nirvana], the Buddha explains its positive aspects and says that Nirvana has four attributes, which are the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure’.
The tathagatagarbha, according to the Nirvana Sutra as explained by Yamamoto, is nothing less than Thusness (tathata) itself. Yamamoto writes: ‘… the tathagatagarbha is none but Thusness or the Buddha Nature, and is the originally untainted pure mind which lies overspread by, and exists in, the mind of greed and anger of all beings. This bespeaks a Buddha Body that exists in a state of bondage. The attitude of approach here is ontological, religious, personal, and therefore, practical …’
On the question of the Self, Yamamoto writes that earlier the Buddha taught non-Self to meet the needs of the occasion. Now he teaches the truth of the Self, which remains once the non-Self is done away with:
'What the Buddha says here is that he spoke thus to meet the occasion. But now the thought is established [of non-Self], he means to say what is true, which is about the inner content of nirvana itself ... If there is no more any non-Self, what there exists must be the Self.'/
Quotations from the Nirvana Sutra
The Buddha on his eternal and blissful ultimate nature as he stands on the brink of physical death:
" ... if you perceive things truly, you will become free from attachment, separated from them, you will indeed be liberated. I have well crossed the watery waste of existence. I abide in bliss, having transcended suffering, therefore I am devoid of unending desire, I have eliminated attachment and gained Liberation [moksha]. There is no old age, sickness or death for me, my life is forever without end. I proceed burning bright like a flame. You must not think that I shall cease to exist. Consider the Tathagata [i.e. Buddha] to be like [Mount] Sumeru: though I shall pass into Nirvana here [i.e. physically die], that supreme bliss is my true nature [dharmata]." (Tibetan version, translated by Stephen Hodge, quoted in Buddha-Self, by Dr. Tony Page, Nirvana Publications, London, 2003, p. 27).
"The Buddha-Tathagatas are not eternally extinguished in Nirvana like the heat of an iron ball that is quickly extinguished when cast into water. Moreover, it is thus: just as the heat of an iron ball is extinguished when thrown into water, the Tathagata is likewise; when the immeasurable mental afflictions have been extinguished, it is similar to when an iron ball is cast into water - although the heat is extinguished, the substance / nature of the iron remains. In that way, when the Tathagata has completely extinguished the fire of the mental afflictions that have been accumulated over countless aeons, the nature of the diamond Tathagata permanently endures - not transforming and not diminishing." (Fa-xian version, tr. by Stephen Hodge, quoted in Buddha-Self, op.cit., p. 92).
On his teaching of "non-Self" (the "worldly self", which ultimately does not exist eternally, but obscures the True Self) and the tathagata-garbha:
"When I have taught non-Self, fools uphold the teaching that there is no Self. The wise know that such is conventional speech, and they are free from doubts.
"When I have taught that the tathagata-garbha is empty, fools meditatively cultivate [the notion] that it is extinction [uccheda], subject to destruction and imperfect. The wise know that it is [actually] unchanging, stable and eternal."
" ... just as cow's milk is delicious, so too is the taste of this [Nirvana] Sutra similar to that. Those who abandon the teaching given in this sutra concerning the tathagata-garbha are just like cattle. For example, just as people who intend to commit suicide will cause themselves extreme misery, similarly you should know that those ungrateful people who reject the tathagata-garbha and teach non-Self cause themselves extreme misery." (Tibetan version, tr. by Stephen Hodge, quoted in Buddha-Self, op. cit., p. 108).
In contrast to the illusory, conditioned, worldly self, the Self of the Buddha is real and enduring: "The Tathagata's Body is not causally conditioned. Because it is not causally conditioned, it is said to have the Self; if it has the Self, then it is also Eternal, Blissful and Pure." (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op.cit., Vol. 7, p.71).
"The Tathagata also teaches, for the sake of all beings, that, truly, there is the Self in all phenomena." (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, op. cit., Vol. 1, p.46).
English edition
- The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra in 3 Volumes, tr. by Kosho Yamamoto, the Karinbunko, Ube City, Japan, 1973-1975. ISBN ?
- The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra in 12 Volumes, translated by Kosho Yamamoto and edited by Dr. Tony Page (Nirvana Publications, London, 1999 - 2000).
Literature:
- Mahayanism: A Critical Exposition of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, by Kosho Yamamoto, The Karinbunko, Tokyo, 1975
- Buddha-Self: The Secret Teachings of the Buddha in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra by Dr. Tony Page, Nirvana Publications, London, 2003
See also
Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa
External links
- (log in with userID "guest")
- of the Mahayana-mahaparinirvana-sutra, translated by Charles D. Patton
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